Open Collections Program - Student Dialogue

Open Collections Program > Women Working > Teachers > Soap and Settlements > "Washing Lesson"

Some 8th Graders Discuss the Photograph "Washing Lesson"

CLARE: And if they were immigrants, then, like, that would make sense that they’re in, like, a group—
ZACH: Yeah.
REBECCA: Speaking at the same time. Yeah.
CLARE: —because they want to stay—
JOSIE: They’re all white.
CLARE: —and I bet if they were immigrants, their, like, parents or guardians would be, like, teaching them—I don’t know. Or maybe—I don’t know…maybe the hanging of laundry is, like, American, and then they’re, like, assimilating. Laughter. Even though it’s not, because they do that in Europe. But like—I don’t know. Never mind.
TEACHER: So—but you’re saying that maybe—that one thing that makes you think maybe they’re immigrants is—
CLARE: They’re in a group.
TEACHER: They’re in a group together, and—
REBECCA: They’re learning.
JOSIE: Softly. They’re all—white.

This exchange was part of the longer discussion below.
For teacher commentary and the entire context of these conversations, download the case study Using Women Working Resources in Schools.

JOSIE: This is also, like, a picture, so there obviously has to be somebody else there. So, like, if the teacher wants a picture of them, she could be taking a picture. Like, photographs don’t just, like, come out of nowhere. Laughter.
REBECCA: It seems like there might be, like, two people where we were—we are right now. Because there could be, like, someone taking the picture, because the two, like, middle—far side girls are looking directly at us, and the other girl’s, like, looking at the teacher or something.

JOSIE: You would think that—they wouldn’t want to waste, like—like, and since it (the photograph) looks, like, old, it was harder to, like—in the olden days, cameras were, like, more expensive, and stuff, and they are, like, a—they’re a thing (she means a luxury), so, like, you would think that they would have them (the girls) looking at the camera, ’cause, it’s like, they want to take a good picture.
REBECCA: But they might want to take a picture of, like, them working.
CLARE: Not, like, posing. Laughs a little.

JOSIE: If they went to, like, a girls’ school, they might want to, like—like, a girls’ boarding school—
CLARE: They probably—
JOSIE: —they (I think she means the teachers) might want to take the pictures to, like, hang on the wall and, like, show parents when they came, like, you can send your children here, because we have, like, really, like, good, like, working girls.
CLARE: But they would be wearing uniforms if they were at school.
DAN: It says, “In the yard of present Settlement House.” I don’t think a settlement house is a school.

JOSIE: It looks like, like—18—19-oh—like, 1908, because I have, like—you know the American Girl dolls? … Well, I have Samantha— Laughter.
ZACH: Teasingly. Oh, my God.
JOSIE: Wait, I’m making a point! And she has … she has clothes that look almost exactly—she has that dress in pink and white—it’s a party dress—and she has that coat for her winter adventure. Laughter. So, it looks like the early 1900s.
DAN: Well, and that would—could fit with “Settlement.” Because, it’s like, they’re immigrants, and they’re settling.

CLARE: And if they were immigrants, then, like, that would make sense that they’re in, like, a group—
ZACH: Yeah.
REBECCA: Speaking at the same time. Yeah.
CLARE: —because they want to stay—
JOSIE: They’re all white.
CLARE: —and I bet if they were immigrants, their, like, parents or guardians would be, like, teaching them—I don’t know. Or maybe—I don’t know...maybe the hanging of laundry is, like, American, and then they’re, like, assimilating. Laughter. Even though it’s not, because they do that in Europe. But like—I don’t know. Never mind.
TEACHER: So—but you’re saying that maybe—that one thing that makes you think maybe they’re immigrants is—
CLARE: They’re in a group.
TEACHER: They’re in a group together, and—
REBECCA: They’re learning.
JOSIE: Softly. They’re all—white.

JOSIE: They don’t look like they’re upper-class—because of their boots.
TEACHER: Any other things that make you—anyone think—about their class?
JOSIE: Oh, about their class? Um—well, their clothes, and stuff—and usually they—they probably—oh, well, obviously, duh. Having a “Washing Lesson.”
CLARE: Speaking at the same time. Yeah, the fact that—
JOSIE: If you’re in the upper class, you have people to do your washing for you.
CLARE: Yeah, the fact that, like, they’re doing it themselves.

For teacher commentary and the entire context of these conversations, download the case study Using Women Working Resources in Schools.